Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara Ep. 2: One more time

Well, even if the drama bombs, this is a pretty show to look at.

— Don’t really care for the singer’s voice in the OP. I find it really distracting. The OP itself is fine, but it’s full of typical anime cliches (e.g. characters running towards nothing in particular).

— Anyways, the story picks up where it last left off. Hitomi tries to tell the truth, but it doesn’t sound like Yuito believes her. Instead, he just pities her and gives the girl her earring back. After all, he acknowledge that she didn’t steal anything.

— Unfortunately, Yuito seems uncomfortable, so he starts leaving immediately. As a result, he doesn’t offer to show Hitomi another glimpse of his drawing, and she’s too shy and passive to say anything. The girl has a long way to go if she’s to come out of her shell.

— At first glance, it would seem as though Yuito needs to lighten up a bit.

— On the other hand, everyone else is so carefree. Hitomi confesses to Kohaku’s family (well, I guess they’re her family too) that doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do here or how she’ll even get home? Their response? Don’t worry about it! She’ll know when the time comes! What time? The time. In the meantime, we’re rich enough to just take in a girl from the future without any worries! All Hitomi can do for now is sit tight until her teenager obaachan returns home.

— Of course, Hitomi will have to go to school. This is an anime, after all. Just because she’s from the future doesn’t mean she should neglect her studies, tut tut! She even gets to be the mysterious transfer student… from the future!

— Anyways, our heroine reveals that she doesn’t like magic very much, so she rarely nurtured her own talents. I wonder if her mother was the same way. It also makes you wonder what Kohaku’s letter was talking about.

— Speaking of which, we don’t know anything about Hitomi’s mother, do we? In my opinion, she is definitely the elephant in the room. What happened to the woman? Why is there almost no mention of her in this story? Don’t you think these people would want to know about their daughter’s daughter?

— We next see the girl walking to her new school. She thinks to herself that she should have tried to refuse more earnestly, but in actuality, she didn’t refuse at all. She’s so passive that you can’t help but wonder if she’s capable of saying no at the moment. You also can’t help but wonder if other people might try to take advantage of Hitomi’s fear of confrontation.

— Some of Hitomi’s new classmates really don’t like mages. Others are just plain scared of her.

— I’m surprised to see that Yuito isn’t in her class, but I guess that would’ve been too coincidental.

— Anyways, Asagi, one of the girls from last week’s episode, explains why their peers tend to steer clear of mages. Sure, Kohaku tended to destroy stuff, but it doesn’t sound like she’s ever hurt anybody. These kids seem a little uptight.

— Anime sure has a thing for photography.

— Eventually, Yuito and his friends wander by. It also sounds like our heroine and Yuito have something in common: depression.

— The guy has tried to tell his friend that he’s not dating Hitomi. Rather, she just appeared in his room one day thanks to magic. Obviously, few people would find that believable. To help dispel all the rumors, Yuito asks Hitomi to prove that she’s a mage. Well, about that…

— After the guy makes his request, the girl thinks back to his drawing. She might feel as though she needs to acquiesce if she wants something in return — that something being another look at Yuito’s art. Even though Hitomi has a disdain for magic, this is a difficult pill that she’s willing to swallow if she hopes to see colors again.

— Also, I just think that this is a really neat shot. Like I said up above, even if the drama falters, gosh this show is nice to look at.

— All the girl can do at the moment is this tiny, shimmering light. I guess it’s like baby’s first magic spell or something. Everyone’s disappointed, and Yuito is almost left speechless. Hitomi thus can’t help but run away in embarrassment. Yeah, I mean, if you’re depressed, the last thing you wanna do is humiliate yourself in front of everyone. To make matters worse, it’s her first day of school.

— It’s too early for Yuito to chase after the girl like something out of a generic romance story, but on the plus side, Hitomi’s made some new friends.

— Look at PA Works flexing their ability to render inanimate objects.

— But like a lot of studios these days, they still rely on a lot of janky 3-D animation for extras.

— Anyways, Hitomi is officially introduced to the photography club, but she’s not too interested in it at the moment. Rather than accompanying her newfound friends on their impromptu after school activity, we instead see Hitomi aimlessly wander the school campus until she makes her way to the school’s rooftop. After all, Kurumi had mentioned that Yuito might be there.

— The girl’s on a mission. This is probably the most assertive she’s been thus far.

— Yuito is rather private about his art, but Hitomi does her best to explain herself. She reveals that his drawing from the other day is somehow really special to her. From the guy’s perspective, that must’ve been strange to hear, especially since he hardly knows the girl. Like how would one of his random drawings mean so much? Hell, that’s what I would like to know too. Obviously, it evoked something within our heroine, but why?

— Still, Yuito eventually relents after Hitomi says that the drawing showed her colors she thought she had forgotten. This almost sounds like a crazy person’s rambling, but luckily, he’s nicer than I am.

— After the guy hands it over, Hitomi gazes at his drawing intently, but we don’t get to see what she sees. She eventually hands the it back to Yuito, thanks him, and turns to leave. Did it work? I think it did. We can see the reflection of the shimmering colors in her eyes.

— On the other hand, this is from our perspective, so it’s not necessarily conclusive. Still, I’m almost impressed with the anime’s restraint. What a subtle move.

— Right before Hitomi disappears from the rooftop, Yuito calls out to the girl and tells her that he likes her magic. He even wants to see it again someday. He goes so far as to claim that her magic is more impressive than his art, but that’s probably just his low self-esteem talking. That’s not to say that her magic isn’t impressive, but hey, I respect people who has real artistic chops. I can’t even draw decent stick figures.

— Still, Hitomi is shocked that someone actually appreciates her magic. She almost looks as though she has to stop and gather herself. More importantly, it sounds like our heroine has a traumatic history with magic, whatever it is. I don’t want to draw too many conjectures after just two episodes, though. I’m sure we’ll explore her backstory in later episodes.

— Later that day, Sho sees Hitomi practice with her one singular magic spell. No doubt, she’s been spurred by Yuito’s praise. Maybe if she impresses the guy again, he might open up and show her more of his art.

— In any case, Sho continues to watch in awe from a distance. I hope this doesn’t set up some kind of love triangle. Those are always tiresome to me. Nevertheless, this is how our episode comes to an end.

— Eh, I guess the ED song is alright.

— The show continues to have a sleepy, languid pacing, but I kinda like it. It’s calming in its own way. Plus, I’m really curious about Hitomi’s past and how she came to lose her ability to see colors in the world.

4 Replies to “Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara Ep. 2: One more time”

Yeah, I was really confused on why she still need to go to school after all that. I mean this isn’t exactly the first time I encountered this stuff, but it doesn’t mean that it got less weird. I blame laziness and anime’s unhealthy obsession with high school for this one. Anime gotta anime, after all.